Nicaragua
Mammals
found only in
Nicaragua include Richmond’s Squirrel Sciurus richmondi (Mamíferos
de Centroamérica) and the Nicaraguan Rice Rat Oryzomys dimidiatus
(Bio-Nica
pdf file).
Endemic amphibians include the Mombacho Salamander Bolitoglossa
mombachoensis (ARKive),
the recently described salamanders Bolitoglossa
indio and Bolitoglossa
insularis (both at David
B. Wake's Lab pdf file), the Nicaraguan Highland Worm
Salamander
Oedipina nica
(AmphibiaWeb), another worm salamander Oedipina koehleri (Harvard pdf file),
the Cerro Saslaya Moss Salamander Nototriton
saslaya (ARKive),
the Little Corn Island Frog Rana
(or Lithobates)
miadis (AmphibiaWeb),
and a recently described robber frog Craugastor chingopetaca
(AmphibiaWeb).
Reptiles unique to Nicaragua include a graceful brown snake Rhadinaea rogerromani
(Vianica.com),
Dunn’s Earth Snake Geophis
dunni (p. 102 of Univ.
Florida pdf file), Taylor's Blind Snake Leptotyphlops nasalis
(BHL),
Wermuth’s Anole Norops
wermuthi (Vianica.com),
and the Country Anole Anolis
(or Norops)
villai
(Reptile
Database).
The Arrow Cichlid Amphilophus
zaliosus (PubMed
Central) is famous as an example of sympatric speciation.
Other endemic freshwater fish include a silverside Atherinella jiloaensis
(FishBase)
and several cichlids: Amphilophus
flaveolus (Cichlid
Room Companion), Amphilophus
chancho (Cichlid
Room Companion), Amphilophus
astorquii (FishBase),
Amphilophus
xiloaensis (FishBase),
Amphilophus
amarillo (GCCA),
Amphilophus globosus
(Cichlid
Room Companion), Amphilophus
supercilius (Cichlid
Room Companion), and Amphilophus
sagittae (Cichlid
Room Companion). A sanddab Citharichthys amblybregmatus
(Smithsonian)
is apparently known only from the type specimens collected in the
Atlantic off Nicaragua's southeast coast.
Insects known solely from Nicaragua include Westfall’s
Knobtail (ARKive),
the skippers Niconiades
bifurcus (Butterflies
of America) and Polythrix
maizae (Butterflies
of America), a katydid Idiarthron
dentatum (OSF),
a grasshopper Lethus
nicaraguae (OSF),
a longhorned beetle Bebelis
puncticollis (Smithsonian),
a scarab beetle Macrodactylus
sericinus (p. 7 of Zootaxa
pdf file), a dung beetle Copris
maesi (Bio-Nica
pdf file), a seed beetle Zabrotes
maesi (Bio-Nica
pdf file), a flea beetle Nicaltica
selvanegra (Smithsonian
7 MB pdf file), and a mayfly Anacroneuria
starki
(Bio-Nica
pdf file). Other endemic invertebrates include a daddy
long-leg spider Modisimus
nicaraguensis (p. 23 of AAS
pdf file), a jumping spider Synemosyna
nicaraguaensis (Bio-Nica
pdf file), a land snail Leptinaria
strebeliana (fig. 25 at Internet
Archive), a centipede Strigamia
tropica (CHILOBASE),
and the freshwater crabs Camptophallus
botti and Raddaus
orestrius (both at AToL
Decapoda pdf file).
About 79 vascular plant species are exclusive to Nicaragua including
the orchids Epidendrum
nicaraguense (Orchid
Board), Stanhopea nicaraguensis (RBO), and Masdevallia
nicaraguae (Epidendra). Other endemic plants include
Anthurium beltianum (Tropicos), Caesalpinia
nicaraguensis (Tropicos),
Clethra nicaraguensis (Tropicos), Calyptranthes amarulenta
(Tropicos),
Psittacanthus minor
(Tropicos),
Randia nicaraguensis
(Tropicos),
Bonamia douglasii
(Tropicos),
Jatropha stevensii
(Tropicos),
Bonellia montana
(Tropicos), Psychotria
matagalpensis (Tropicos),
Plinia
nicaraguensis (Field
Museum), Parmentiera
trunciflora (Tropicos), Clethra nicaraguensis (Tropicos), Nectandra
mirafloris (Tropicos),
Phoradendron boacoi (Tropicos), Ardisia ruedae
(Tropicos),
and Citharexylum mucronatum
(NYBG).
Nicaragua is part of the Mesoamerica biodiversity hotspot (Biodiversity
Hotspots) and its coast forms a portion of the Western
Caribbean coral reef hotspot (Reef
Guardian pdf file). An important freshwater
ecoregion that includes the Nicaraguan Great Lakes is the San Juan (FEOW).
For further information on Nicaragua's endemic animals see
"Biodiversidad Zoologica en Nicaragua" (Bio-Nica
pdf file).